CullmanTimes.com, Cullman, Alabama

Local News

October 14, 2006

Local men helping rebuild Lamar County church

By Evan Belanger

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When the Beaverton Free Will Baptist Church in Lamar County burned to the ground as a result of arson in February, Pastor Dwight Bailey said he would pray for the culprit, but he hoped they were caught.

The church burned along with nine others in the state in rash of arsons allegedly perpetrated by three Birmingham college students. The crime spree was later called a prank “that got out of hand.”

Despite the timing, authorities say the church was probably not burned by any of the students, but it was likely a copycat crime perpetrated by a local. To date, the case remains unsolved.

Eight months later though, the congregation has begun picking up the pieces. Using mostly donated time, money and materials, earnest construction on a new church building began Labor Day weekend.

Two Cullman County men have joined in that effort. Tim Wallace, a professional house framer, and Bobby Noles, a contractor, both lent their expertise to the project. Each has volunteered more than a week on the job for free.

“Somebody asked me if I was getting paid for the work, and I told them no. You don’t expect to get paid when your a volunteer,” Noles said.

Today, the church building has a foundation, walls and a roof, but Noles said they haven’t gotten everything the wanted done and funds are running short.

The church’s insurance policy paid out $100,000 for the building, and Noles said Birmingham-Southern College pitched in an additional $50,000, even though the fire was not by any of the school’s students.

“Right now, it’s ready for insulation, plumbing and electrical, but we really don’t have much left to work with,” Noles said. “I don’t really know what they have for inside furnishings either.”

Noles asked that donations be made toward the project in any form possible.

“We’ll take anything anyone has to offer: Workers, materials, money. It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I think we need money the most though.”

For more information, call Bailey at (205) 487-4565.

Alabama burning

The Alabama church burnings that made national headlines earlier this year were allegedly perpetrated by Birmingham-Southern College students Ben Moseley and Russell DeBusk, both 19, and UAB student Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20.

After their arrests, the three told investigators that as a prank they had kicked in the doors of two churches during a hunting trip in Bibb County. They later set both buildings ablaze.

After the initial fires and intense media coverage, Moseley and Cloyd allegedly lit other fires in rural counties southwest of Birmingham in an attempt to throw investigators off their trail.

“Obviously, the diversion did not work,” Moseley told police.

Investigators were able to track down the suspects based on tire tracks left at the scene of four of the burnings.

In all, a task force of 250 investigators worked on the case. There were about 1,000 leads involving 500 vehicles.

Of the 10 church burnings across the state, five had predominately black congregations, while five, including Beaverton, were predominately white.

FBI agents are still investigating the Beaverton case.

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